when i went home to portugal this summer, i got asked a lot of questions about my life with julia here on island. she was very clingy during our first days in portugal and my friends and family just assumed it was because she wasn’t used to socializing with a lot of people – you must be home with her all day – they said. little did they know… to help me with the baby blues, i was out all the time, so julia got used to coming with me for coffee with friends, baby groups and mid week lunches with james.

here are a few things that i like and don’t like about living in turks and caicos with a baby

things i like

• we go for walks on the beach later afternoon
• we meet at the pool with our favorite neighbour friends
• we stroll to our favorite coffee shop
• we have weekly baby group – with babies who will eventually be in class with her
• we have james joining us for lunch at home everyday
• occasionally we go for a mid week dip in the water at grace bay beach
• julia can dress very casually, usually with a onesie or dress – no need for sweater or any layers
• she never wears shoes either, i actually might get into trouble when she needs to get used to them
• everything is close by – once we were out for lunch and realized i had forgotten her bottle, so james just quickly came home to pick it up and he got back before the food was on the table
• there is no pollution on island
• it’s never cold here, so julia has never been sick
• there are so many babies son island and an amazing expat community to help each other

and the things i don’t like

• the sun is very hot so we can’t really be out all day – it was harder the first months when julia was newborn and i couldn’t put any sunscreen on her
• there are too many mosquitoes and it’s way too hard to keep them away all the time, julia is always getting bitten :(
• we can’t buy all the baby stuff on island, so we actually have to plan and buy what we need evvery time we leave the island (we can find the most important things at IGA supermarket or at the baby store downtown, but for a much higher cost. we also get a lot of hand me downs from friends and can get a lot of second hand stuff on a facebook group ‘tci seller of children’s stuff’)
• there are no parks, we would love to have a park with a big grass lawn (and a shade) to hang out
• it’s sometimes very hard to be away from our family and that they can’t participate in julia’s daily life

and a video of julia at the beach when she was 3 months old

for you turks and caicos mums out there, what are the things you liked and didn’t like about living here with your babies? i would love to hear!

ps – more on turks & caicos and 10 things i love and don’t love about turks & caicos